On 2 August, the Ministry of Transport cooperated with the People’s Committees of Da Nang City and Quang Nam Province to hold a ceremony to put the first 65km road section of the 140km Da Nang – Quang Ngai Expressway into operation. In attendance were the Deputy Minister for Transport Le Dinh Tho, Quang Nam Provincial Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Ngoc Quang and Da Nang People’s Committee Chairman Huynh Duc Tho.

The technical traffic opening ceremony for the section

The 139.52km, consists of a 131.5 km expressway and an 8.02km road linking the expressway to 1A National Highway. The starting point of the 140 kilometre-long expressway is at Tuy Loan Hamlet, Hoa Nhon Commune, Hoa Vang District, Da Nang; and it ends at Km 131+500, which belongs to a planned bypass in Quang Ngai Province. The 6-lane route permits a maximum speed of 120km per hour.

The total investment for the project is around US$1.64 billion. Of this, $798.56 million was loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and $590.39 million was loan from the World Bank, whilst the remaining is counterpart funding from the Vietnamese government.

The Da Nang - Quang Ngai Expressway, when completed, will play an important role in promoting social-economic development, and national defence and security, in the central region; and will help to shorten the distance and travel time between Da Nang and the provinces of Quang Nam and Quang Ngai. In addition, the 140 kilometre-long expressway will help to connect the international transport axis between Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia through the East-West Economic Corridor, to a number of seaports in central Viet Nam.

Addressing the event, Da Nang People’s Committee Chairman Huynh Duc Tho spoke highly of the great efforts made by the project’s developers and construction units. He highlighted the significance of the expressway project in fully tapping the great development potentials of the 3 countries. The city leader also asked the national government and the Ministry of Transport to pay more attention to projects for ensuring closer links between central regional localities. Included are the upgrade of the 14B and 14G highways, the expansion of the city’s international airport, the location of the city’s railway station, the Lien Chieu Port, the East-West Economic Corridor No 2 and the dredging of the Co Co River.